Enchanted
by Kunaigirl
Summary: In a world where warriors fight off the creatures of darkness, Akira’s brother Fumikazu gets caught by creatures known as fazes. Determined to rescue her brother Akira becomes BlackRose...
1. Chapter 1

-1_I got to this idea when I was watching Ella Enchanted or Princess Ella. (The DVD box says Princess Ella while the movie itself says Ella Enchanted ^^__"__) Currently I__'__m playing .Hack//Infection (Skeith is damned scary ^^__"__) and yeah the reason I__'__m not that fast is__…__I don__'__t know actually ^^__"__ Well I hope I don__'__t make too much mistakes, I mean there are so many details in .Hack//._

_Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack// (I haven't even finished the first game T.T)_

Enchanted.

A pink haired tanned girl leapt downstairs. Concern was written in her eyes. Apparently some knights were at their place with bad news. It had been two weeks since her brother Fumikazu had left for a mission. Fumikazu a.k.a. Kazu, her brother was what they called a Wavemaster. Someone who stood close to nature and the waves that nature sends out. She, on the other hand, was just a civilian, she had chosen for this a few years ago when she was 14. For a girl it was possible to chose, boys on the other hand didn't have much of a choice. It wasn't restricted for them to refuse, but then the girls wouldn't like them as much and/or they would feel powerless. 'Guys and their ego's.' Akira had always thought, especially when her brother became a warrior.

Getting downstairs she saw her stressed out mother with her five year old brother Touka and her father. It was clear that they were all very stressed out at the moment. "Akira, quickly." her mother urged her. Quickly Akira ran up to them. The knight cleared his throat, clearly bad at ease. "I'm sorry that I must announce you that your son has been captured by fazes. Her mother started crying and her father turned pale. Akira didn't know what to do. She just stood there, not able to react at the sudden news. "H-how?" Akira's father asked the knight. He stared at the ground. "I don't know, we're investigating it, but so far we haven't found anything yet." "My son…" Akira put her arm around her mothers shoulders. "Please help him." Akira heard her father mumble as he led the knight to the front door.

Later that night Akira laid on her bed. 'Fumikazu.' she thought as her eyelids felt heavy and closed.

She dreamt weird, she was in a dark forest and tried to find something. Her legs felt heavy as she made her way through the thick forest. Then in a clearing she saw someone's figure, she couldn't see who it was though. Rose petals were all around her. It was someone in a dark gown that was tattered. The girl turned around and Akira found herself watching her own appearance. Tears of blood leapt down her cheeks and scratches were all over her arms and legs. Akira noticed she carried a massive golden sword with her. She looked up at her and she tried to speak, ask her some questions.

At that moment however, her mom called her down for dinner.

Akira thought about the dream for a long time. She was currently working in the nearby bakery. She clenched her fists and took a decision. "Mrs Grane?" she called. "Yes dear, what's wrong?" she asked. Akira clenched her fists and gathered her courage. "I'm sorry, but I can't go on working here." The old woman's eyes widened. "Why not?" she asked her. "I…I want to go and find my brother." The woman walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulders. "Are you sure about that? Then you'd have to become a soldier you know?" Akira knew that. "I know, I just have to do something." The woman let go and gave her a smile. "You're very brave Akira. Don't give up." Akira bowed and hurried out.

Standing in front of the registration centre she started to doubt herself. Her brother had told her she would've been a good Heavy Blade, but she had never really listened to that. Was she really ready for this? Could she do this? She clenched her fists and walked in. A kind woman sat behind a desk. "Good midday." she said with a kind smile. Akira looked around. On a few benches in the small room were people discussing what mission would go to who. "I want to register." Some people looked up. The woman smiled at her. "Okay, here's a form. We'll divide you with your first weapon and first armour." Akira nodded and sat down to fill in the form.

Real name: Akira

Warrior name:

She thought about that for a while. She wanted something that would remind her of why she did this in the first place. The dream came into view.

Warrior name: BlackRose

Skill: Heavy Blade

For the rest there were questions like date of birth and so on.

The woman took a glance on the form and looked up at her. "You can go to the shop next to this place and search for some armour." Akira nodded.

The woman there was just as helpful as she was annoying. She told her she still had to look feminine even on the battlefield and chose her some armour that Akira thought was enormously beautiful and cool, but made her doubt about her own safety.

An hour later she walked out in her new outfit. "From now on you should always address to yourself as BlackRose." the woman had said, so she thought: 'These are the first steps of BlackRose.'

She looked around and was sure she saw the girl of in her dream. She was pulled in a state of sleeping and being awake. The girl with the gown and the sword walked over to her. With a genuine smile she handed over her weapon. It felt heavy as BlackRose took it with both hands. When she wanted to say something she noticed she was just in town, not holding anything. She stared at the ground and then made her way towards a weapon shop.

She re-entered the registration centre with her massive sword secured on her back. The woman smiled at her. "We'll stay in touch for when you have your first mission." she said and BlackRose got the hint that it was time for her to leave. Getting outside her actions reached her mind. 'What am I going to tell my parents?' she thought in a slight panic.

Arriving home her mother yelled to her that dinner was ready. 'Is it evening already?' BlackRose thought as she turned to the window. Her mother walked into the dining room and dropped the dishes, making BlackRose turn around to see her stare at her with wide eyes. She looked at her clothing and smiled kindly. "What are you doing?!" her mother yelled. BlackRose stared at the ground. Her father walked in alarmed by her mothers scream. "I'm…I'm going to save Fumikazu!" BlackRose said, her demeanour changing from frightened to determined, taking her mother off guard. She stared her parents in the eyes, not afraid of what they might say next. Her father walked over to her. "If that's what you want to do…" he started. "Then I'll be there for you." BlackRose smiled and looked at her mother who stood behind her father with questioning eyes. "I…I guess there's no stopping you." she mumbled. BlackRose sighed. "Thank you." she mumbled.

The next day, when BlackRose was eating her breakfast while in deep thought her mother walked over to her. "Aki…I mean BlackRose, there's mail for you." she said with a sad smile. BlackRose put the last piece of bread in her mouth and opened the string that held the scroll. It read: Dear BlackRose, since you have just started out as a warrior we would like to invite you to a special course, given this afternoon at 14:00 o'clock in the Eastern building. There the current lieutenant of the Cerulean knights, Kamui, will explain the basics of combat to you.

BlackRose swallowed her bread and took a sip of her water.

"And? What's it about?" her mother asked nervous. "It's about a class given to starters this midday." "What's that course about?" she asked. BlackRose smiled at her mother, trying to calm her down for the slightest bit.

"It's about the basics of combat mom." she said with a calm face.

"I…I see."

Later that day, BlackRose sat in the classroom close to a window. She stared out of the window at the beautiful, calm sky. Realising a lot of people had come in she looked around. She certainly wasn't the only one who had just signed in to become a warrior. Her eyes widened as a short, blue haired Twin Blade walked in. He was dressed in a sort of Red-Orange tunic with his two short swords at his sides. BlackRose felt strange. She turned away from him, staring at her massive sword that stood next to her, leaning against her desk.

When the Twin Blade finally sat down she found the courage to look around at the rest. She could see another Twin Blade in the far back. She had green hair and a blue tunic. She looked a bit too excited which made BlackRose doubt whether she realised how dangerous it was. 'Well, they probably need fools too.' she caught herself thinking. She shook her head violently. For the rest there was also a Wavemaster girl who looked like an elf who wore an extremely exposing yellow costume, her staff laid on her desk and in the far back there sat a girl with blonde hair, a 'cute' outfit with an incredibly huge axe. 'Who chooses something like that?' BlackRose found herself thinking.

Suddenly a small green haired Wavemaster with a book under her arm walked in. She looked at all the students, pushed her glasses better on her nose and then spoke up. "I'm Magi, the attendant of Kamui-sama who's about to learn you the basics of combat." She once more looked at every student present. "I must warn you though. She won't repeat anything so keep your eyes and ears open." Then everyone could hear the sound of footsteps down the hallway and BlackRose found herself gulping.

A Short haired woman walked in. She wore the typical Cerulean knights harness with underneath something that looked like a gown with splits at either sides with throwers underneath. She held a spear in her hand and from the way she looked at every student you could know she felt better than anyone else. BlackRose shivered when her two coloured eyes rested on her for the slightest moment. 'She hates me already.' BlackRose thought. She shook it off and looked her in the eyes. No, she was not going to back away. Akira wouldn't have done that, so BlackRose is certainly not going to.

Magi pulled out a list and yelled everyone's name. "BlackRose?" "Present!" she immediately yelled.

"Drive?" "Present."

"Elk?" Silence.

"Elk?" Magi repeated.

"It seems he's not present." Kamui said in a dangerous tone.

Magi gulped. "Maybe he'll come later."

"That's someone we can't work with." Kamui replied without a care.

"Hokuto?"

"I'm here!"

"Kite?"

"Present."

"Terajima?"

"P-Present."

Kamui seemed satisfied with all the present students.

"Let's continue." she said and stepped up to the blackboard.

"As you are all aware off, our kingdom is in grave danger. Monsters appear everywhere, attacking our villages and civilians. Our job is to keep the peace in the villages and safety on the in and outside of the villages." She looked around to see if the students were still with her. 'We're not stupid.' BlackRose thought as she found the pause Kamui held far too long. 'She's not even that much older than I am.'

"For us to do that we do not only need weapons but also good companions. To make matters easy and still good to handle, we form for each mission a group of three people. Most of the time there are two attackers and one for health. The third is then, most of the time a Wavemaster." She held a pause.

"So far everyone with me?"

"Something else. There are four types of battle, you must know them by heart or you cannot work in a team. The first one is Mission Wonder Battle. This means everyone can choose which monster to attack without using skills or scrolls. Then there is Mission Union Battle which is that every team member attacks the same monster without using skills or scrolls. The next one is Mission Follow Me, then you follow the leader. And finally there's Mission Recover, which speaks for itself."

"Does everyone understand so far?" Magi asked.

BlackRose had an urge to yell out at her, telling her to go on, but she held back.

"Everyone of you is going to practice with someone after this first lesson who've mastered the same weapon as you are going to. But that's for later. First I'll tell you about healing potions and scrolls."

BlackRose stumbled behind the other students towards the practice room. It had been a long time since she had been so bored. Everything that had been said had sounded so normal and so easy. 'I'll guess it only gets difficult out there, in the field.' she thought.

They arrived in what looked like a dojo. There stood six people in front of them and BlackRose could immediately see who was going to teach her the basics. At the far left, there stood a young man with green, long hair. He wore a heavy blade at his side. Noticing her sword he smiled friendly at her.

Kamui walked in. "Now, go to the person who wields the same weapon as you. They will take care of you from there on." she said and disappeared, Magi walking behind her.

'Here goes nothing.' BlackRose thought as she walked over to her teacher, feeling a bit better just by his appearance alone.

_Well this is it for the first chapter. I hope you guys like it. ^^ It's a bit weird and it might become less like the real story. As you have noticed it's already a bit off. (With Kite's clothes and all.) Please R&R._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey everyone, here__'__s chapter 2! ^^ Thank you very much for reviewing talkstoangels77 and True Blue Fan! ^^ Yep I read Another birth! ^^ That's where the idea came from! Once more, thanks for reviewing and I hope that I can keep up to your expectations!_

Disclaimer: I do not own .Hack//

BlackRose stumbled through the small streets of , her hometown towards the dojo-like building. It didn't look like a dojo from the outside, but it certainly was one on the inside. Her huge sword safely on her back. It was her third lesson with Nova, a heavy blade who taught her the basics. As she sauntered further she ran into a ninja like person with green hair and a scar on his left cheek. He looked annoyed at her, apparently ready to stab her if she didn't leave him alone soon. BlackRose just watched him, not wanting to let people overrun her. The guy smirked and took out one of his blades that were attached to his hands. 'A Twin Blade?' BlackRose thought as her hand found it's way to her sword. She knew there was nothing she could do, but she certainly wasn't going to let people overrun her.

Her resolve disappeared as he attacked without a second thought though. BlackRose closed her eyes for the slightest second and she heard steal cling. As she opened her eyes, Nova stood in front of her, blade raised to block the attack. He looked rather serious at the other warrior. "If you want to fight, Sora, you can get a new mission." he said kindly.

"Is that cutie your student?" he asked while eying BlackRose.

Nova pushed him a bit further.

"Keep an eye on her. She might run into trouble because of her temper." he said while retracting his swords.

BlackRose sighed as she walked into the dojo behind Nova. He turned to her and she got ready to get an earful. "You should be more careful." she heard Nova say.

As she looked up she saw him just smiling at her, no sign of a grudge to see.

"I know, I'm sorry."

Nova smiled at her. "Well, don't worry about it, let's get to practice. You only have two more lessons after this one."

"I know." BlackRose mumbled. Kamui had explained that for the basics of fighting with weapons they would each get five lessons. Nova had been very understanding when she said she couldn't heave her sword as good as he. "You'll get used to swinging it around." he had told her. She didn't really believe him then, but even with only two courses had, she was already able to swing it around without much difficulty.

She blocked an attack. She had to use all of her power to hold it though. Nova didn't hold back today. At first she had thought that it was because of her little problem with Sora, but apparently he was doing her a great favour by fighting real. Next she saw an opening and attacked. Nova dodged easily and pushed his sword down on hers. Not able to hold the weight of the second blade with the speed of the attack she fell on the ground panting heavily.

"Perhaps it's time for a small break." Nova said as he reached out to her. She smiled and gratefully took his hand.

'I can't believe courses are already over.' BlackRose thought as she walked over to the church. After those first hours of training, new warriors usually went to the church to swear their loyalty. In the church stood the sculpture of a girl bound by eight chains. She was the one in the world that would lead everything to the good of mankind. BlackRose sat down at the far back, behind a long Heavy Axeman.

Kamui stepped up. "You are the new warriors of this world. Be proud of that!" was the only thing she said before stepping down and allowing everyone to come to her and say the vows.

As BlackRose stepped up she took a good look at the statue. 'Why is the girl tightened up? Will she leave us if she has the chance?' Ignoring her bad feeling BlackRose made her vow.

"Hereby I, Akira, under the name of BlackRose will serve the land by defeating those who endanger it." She stood up from her kneeling position and walked out of the church, knowing that even if she could, she wouldn't turn back anymore. 'Fumikazu.' she thought.

That night they all ate in silence. Her mother was silent, her father was silent and even her five year old brother Kouta was silent. Not wanting to be the one clearing the mood BlackRose didn't say anything either. She eyed her sword that stood in the corner. "Tomorrow…" her father began making her look up at him. "…You'll be going on your first mission neh?" BlackRose nodded. "Don't…don't take any risks." he added. "Don't worry father, I won't. Besides there'll be a pro with us on our first few missions." she replied, trying to ease her fathers worries. He nodded, implying he heard her. BlackRose looked at her mother from the corner of her eyes. 'Mother…' she thought. She knew why she was so silent, she had been the same with Kazu. On his first mission she had been the same way, not talking to him as if it was all his fault. BlackRose stood up and put her plate away. "I'm going to prepare." she said as she walked up the stairs and locked herself in her room. Then she heard quiet sniffling. 'Shit! Kazu's Grunty!' she thought in a slight panic. The little animal was not much larger than a puppy so he couldn't tell her what he wanted to eat. BlackRose quietly opened her brother's locker where she knew he kept the food. She found some kind of yellow egg. 'Well I guess this'll have to do.' she thought as she fed the small thing.

The next day she was summoned to the register house also called the Mission Register. As she stepped out of her front door she was doubting herself for a second. 'Please Akira, you're BlackRose now.' she told herself and with that she left with steady steps.

She quickly arrived at her destination. As she stepped in she was greeted by the woman who had helped her to assign. Her name was B-Cord, apparently she had been a Blademaster herself until she got children and resigned. "It's that way." she said with a smile while pointing towards the stairs. BlackRose nodded and walked up the stairs.

She arrived in a clear room with one huge desk where at least five people were working on. "BlackRose?" the man at the far right asked. BlackRose nodded and walked up to him. "You're the first one to arrive." he said with a smile. Seeing a staff next to him she realised he was a Wavemaster just like Kazu. "You can wait there." he pointed to a chair. "Are they going to take long?" BlackRose asked. "Impatient?" the man asked, happiness getting through his voice. She nodded. Truth was…she was enormously nervous for her new mission. It didn't matter that she had practiced for hours if she wasn't able to use it out there in the field.

"Don't worry." the man spoke up. "They only have ten minutes left."

BlackRose nodded and sat down on the chair, half leaning on her sword in her hands.

A few moments later the girl she had seen in class walked in. The young Wavemaster dressed in Yellow that looked like an elf. She smiled friendly, immediately grabbing her hat, keeping it from falling off her head. BlackRose smiled a bit awkward and waved too. The Wavemaster ran up to her. "Hi! I'm Hokuto!" she yelled with a huge smile. BlackRose stood up. "I'm BlackRose." she said and bowed. "Are these the girls I have to take care of?" they heard a deep voice say. "Yep they're the ones." the Wavemaster from behind the desk said.

BlackRose and Hokuto turned around and saw a young tanned man with dark brown hair in a wolf cut and two different looking eyes. One was blue and the other yellow. 'Where have I seen it before?' BlackRose thought. Hokuto on the other hand seemed equally interested in his spear. It looked like a spear with an axe adjusted to it. He wore a scale-mail tunic and looked bored.

"I'm Hokuto. Nice to meet you." Hokuto said, introducing herself.

He stared at her for a second and nodded. Hokuto pushed me in my side with her elbow.

"Oh, I'm BlackRose." I said bowing politely.

"Okay. I'm Albireo." he said and then turned to the man behind the desk.

"So, what's our mission?" he asked.

The man behind the counter smirked. "You still don't like taking care of others do you?" he joked. Albireo stared at him. "You're mission is this. Close to our borders a few goblins have been spotted. It's your task to, together with these two charming girls, defeat them."

Albireo nodded as he received a scroll. "Okay. Let's go." he said and BlackRose and Hokuto immediately followed him.

Once outside the Mission Register he turned to them. "Do you have enough potions with you?" he asked.

BlackRose immediately checked her bags for a last time. Hokuto on the other hand just nodded. "I'm sure I have enough." she replied with her hands on her hips a smile plastered on her face. BlackRose could only look at their continuously staring at each other. Nor Albireo, nor Hokuto was going to give up.

"Shouldn't we be going?" BlackRose asked, trying to get out of this weird situation, she didn't even create.

"She's right." Albireo said and walked over to the gate. "Stay close."

After telling the Magic Portal the coordinates they got warped into a huge field. There Albireo turned towards them. "From here on out it's Mission Wonder Battle." He turned to Hokuto. "You must stay on the back and focus on healing." Hokuto nodded with an endearing smile. He turned to BlackRose. "You must focus on using that giant sword of yours. It's very destructive…don't hit an ally with it."

BlackRose suddenly felt the real weight of the sword in her hands. It was true, it couldn't only hurt enemies, but also allies.

"Don't worry about those goblins, they're not strong." he reassured them.

'He's though, but kind.' BlackRose thought feeling safe with Albireo around.

"Let's get going." he said and they started running into the field.

They had been walking for like a half an hour when Hokuto started to speak.

"When are we going to find them? This is annoying." she uttered.

Albireo didn't react, ticking her off.

"Are you always going to keep quiet when we ask you something?!" she yelled.

He sighed deeply and turned to her. Apparently he was getting a headache from her behaviour.

"Listen, you'll put yourself in jeopardy if you keep yelling like this."

BlackRose looked up at him. He was right.

"How come?" Hokuto asked clearly not wanting to give up now that she had gotten Albireo so far as to actually talk to them.

"If they find you before you find them, they've got the advantage. And for newbie's like you, that could cost your life." He turned to BlackRose and while speaking kept throwing glances at Hokuto.

"You always have to focus on your mission. Every one of them is life threatening." He stared at Hokuto. "Got it?" he asked.

Hokuto nodded. "Sorry."

His eyes widened. He hadn't really imagined Hokuto to be able to apologise.

"Let's get moving." he said.

BlackRose looked around and made sure she was very quiet so that not one sound would escape her. The continuously carrying of the weight of her massive sword made her tired. Never before had she carried it for more than half an hour. She turned with her shoulders, trying to get the stiffness and the pain out of it. Seeing this, Albireo spoke up: "Let's take a break." Hokuto sighed deeply, glad with the offer.

Albireo sat down, spear next to him and took a sip of his bottle. As BlackRose sat down against a tree he spoke up. "You'll get used to that weight."

She looked at him. "I hope so."

"Of course you will!" Hokuto yelled with a smile.

"How come you're so sure?" BlackRose asked, taken aback by her spontaneous and crystal clear reply.

"There are like a hundred other female Heavy Blades, if they could get used to it, so do you."

BlackRose smiled. She was kind of glad she had met Hokuto. She could behave annoying, but she surely had her good sides. Albireo smiled nearly unnoticeable.

After a twenty minute break they stood up to continue their search.

BlackRose breathed in the smell of the trees, and she couldn't help but feel grateful that she could be here.

Suddenly she heard Hokuto yell something. "They're here!" she yelled, readying her staff. BlackRose cursed herself. She had gone too far from Hokuto to protect her from an attack. She quickly tried to make her way over to the elf-like Wavemaster. Too late. She saw the goblin raise its sword at Hokuto. BlackRose closed her eyes.

"What're you doing?!" Albireo yelled, getting her out of her reverie. He stood in front of Hokuto, blocking the goblins attack just like Nova had done for her. She clenched her fists and made her way over to them.

More goblins made their way towards them. She gulped. Could she do this?

"Don't worry, just slice at them. The weight of your sword will do the rest." Albireo said as he easily took out three goblins at the same time.

BlackRose spotted a sole goblin and made her way over to it, making sure she wasn't too far from Hokuto.

She jumped up, grabbing her sword in the process and dropped it onto the goblin. He put up some resistance, but after a few slices he was defeated.

BlackRose turned around and faced another goblin which she defeated more easily than the first one.

They all sat down, panting. Hokuto had used some spells to get the goblins away and was now huffing. Albireo looked as if he had just left the city though, looking at the two girls sitting against a tree next to each other. "That went rather smoothly didn't it?" he asked with a smile. Hokuto smiled weakly and BlackRose nodded. Then he turned serious again.

"BlackRose, never lose sight of the Wavemaster."

BlackRose looked up and nodded.

"They don't have much resistance when it comes to physical attacks."

"I'm sorry Hokuto." BlackRose mumbled to the yellow Wavemaster.

"Don't worry about it." she said with a smile.

After regaining their breath Albireo made them move on. "Staying in one place is dangerous." he told them.

"Do we have to take on more goblins?" BlackRose asked.

"No, we only had to take care of seven of them."

"Only seven?" Hokuto asked.

Albireo smirked. 'She's far more attentive than she lets on.'

"Yes, only seven. We have to keep a few for the other beginners."

"Newbie's." BlackRose mumbled.

Albireo smiled. Yep, that was the nickname beginners got.

That night BlackRose fell right asleep. Never before had she felt so grateful for her night sleep. She turned to her side and could see the moon through her window. 'Don't worry Fumikazu, I'll save you no matter what.' Then she frowned. 'But, what do I know about the fazes? What can I do?' With a headache she fell asleep, hoping she could soon begin her real search.

_That was it for chapter two. I hope you all like it so far. ^^ Yep that was Albireo! Finally I got to write about him! ^o^ Well please R&R. ^^_

_Kunaigirl Logging out. ^^ (I really like that phrase)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey everyone, here's the next chapter! Sorry, Kite's introduction is going to take longer than expected. T.T_

"Hey!!!" BlackRose heard someone yell. She turned around and saw a small Blademaster running towards her. He wore a scale male tunic with handgloves and wore two mid-long swords. BlackRose blinked a few times. 'Do I know him?' she thought as he circled around her. "Don't mind him." she heard a familiar voice say.

"Hi Nova." she said with a smile.

"So this is your pupil?" the small Blademaster asked.

"Yes. This is BlackRose. BlackRose this is Chimney."

"Nice to meet you." BlackRose said while bowing politely.

"Likewise!" yelled the hyper Chimney.

'How old is he? Is it normal that he's already a warrior?' BlackRose thought, taken aback by the young Blademaster.

"He might look like a small kid, but he's very talented." Nova said as if reading her mind.

"How come…?" she began.

"I asked permission to become a warrior!" Chimney yelled.

"Is that even possible?!" BlackRose blurted out.

Nova nodded. "It's not very common, but not impossible."

"Why?" BlackRose asked the little one.

"Because I was bored, and I happened to have talent!" he replied with a huge smile.

BlackRose was taken aback by his carefree way of taking life, as if it was just a game.

"I want to go on a mission with you!!!" he suddenly yelled.

BlackRose's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Chimney…" Nova sighed.

"One day, I'm sure we'll go on a mission together!" he yelled utterly happy.

"Sure." BlackRose said with a smile.

The bell of 's tower rang.

"Oh shit!" BlackRose let out.

"Mission?" Nova asked with a smile. She nodded in response.

"Don't let hem wait." Nova said.

"Go get them!" Chimney cheered.

"See you two later. It was nice meeting you!!!" she yelled as she ran up to the Mission Register.

Without hesitation she immediately ran up the stairs. A bit out of breath she looked around. A Long Arm in the middle urged her to hurry up. In front of him stood a female Wavemaster with dark blonde hair in a green outfit. She held a great staff and looked at her sceptically. "Is this the newbie that's coming with us?" she asked the Long Arm behind the desk.

"Yep. We know it's not the best choice but since she's already sixteen we need to speed up her career."

Next to the woman stood a blue skinned Blademaster. He looked a lot like the famous Orca of the Azure Sea, but then blue.

"Don't be so harsh B.T." he said and then turned to her.

"I know someone who looks a lot like you." he said with a kind smile.

BlackRose loosened up because of his presence. He seemed like someone you could truly trust. She nodded.

"What's her name?" B.T. asked the Long arm.

"You could also just ask her." the man replied.

She sighed.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Bear and this is B.T.." the Blademaster said with the same kind smile from before.

The woman nodded at the mention of her name. BlackRose bowed politely.

"Are you going to stay here all day?" a Twin Blade asked from behind BlackRose.

Surprised BlackRose turned around and took a few steps backwards.

"Patience is a virtue, Sora." Bear said.

"Whatever. I see you have the cutie with you."

Bear frowned as he took one of his swords and waved it around carelessly.

BlackRose gulped. He was the last one she wanted to meet.

To her surprise she saw the point of a known spear against his neck.

"This is no place for that." Albireo's deep voice said.

"The captain of the Cerulean knights?" Sora asked sceptically and retracted his swords.

He turned around to face Albireo.

"So strange to see someone so noble here."

"Just get your mission and leave." Albireo said, clearly not wanting to waste too much time.

Sora grinded his teeth in annoyance.

Taking the lead Bear said: "It's time for us to go anyway."

'That was weird.' BlackRose thought as she stood behind Bear and B.T. in front of the Chaos Gate.

"Do you know what the mission is?" B.T. asked.

BlackRose quietly shook her head.

"We have to take out a stray Shogun." B.T. said.

"A, a Shogun?" BlackRose blabbered. 'Isn't that a bit too much for me right now?'

"Stop scaring her, it's just a witch." Bear said.

"Tch. You and your big mouth." she mumbled.

BlackRose sighed.

They arrived in an open field. 'A witch, here?' she thought as she scanned her surroundings.

"You really do look a lot like Mimiru." Bear said.

"Mimiru?" BlackRose asked.

"A girl your age. She's also a Heavy Blade." B.T. explained.

"How do I look like her?"

"Well everything. Except your hair is pink." Bear said with a smile.

"I-I see." BlackRose mumbled.

"You've both been chosen by the same waves." B.T. mumbled.

"Waves?" BlackRose asked.

"Yep, those markings on our bodies are the markings of the waves." Bear said pointing to his face and torso.

"Does that mean something?" BlackRose asked.

"There are many opinions, but none of them sound real." B.T. intervened Bears reply.

"What kind of opinions?"

"This girl's even more annoying than Mimiru." B.T. mumbled so that only Bear could hear her.

"Some say that the waves show how strong a person can become…" he started.

"Others say it's a sign of aura, that she's accepted your existence." B.T. intervened.

"You can just keep on." Bear said while sweat dropping.

"So, no one knows?" BlackRose asked.

"Apparently." B.T. said.

"Let's just focus on our mission." Bear said to end the conversation.

'Waves huh?' BlackRose thought as they made their way through the forest. Bear was up ahead, being the leader and all, BlackRose a few meters behind him B.T. immediately following. BlackRose shook her head. This was her first mission with two excellent warriors so she had to keep her head with it.

'I wonder how strong the witch is if they sent me, a newbie, with two hardcore warriors?'

BlackRose gulped bad at ease. Was this something she could do?

She turned to B.T.

"This witch. Is she strong?"

B.T. looked at her with a straight face.

"Normally fire witches aren't all that dangerous, but the choice of warriors seems a bit alarming."

"B.T. stop scaring her." Bear said.

"I was not scaring her, I'm just telling her the facts."

"It's just one witch." Bear tried to make everyone feel less uncertain.

"Then why did they have to send us to go with BlackRose, a newbie?" B.T. asked.

Bear thought about it. It was true, they could've send someone with less capabilities than Bear or B.T. like Hokuto. 'No, Hokuto was on a mission.' BlackRose reasoned. 'And, then it would be a hell of a fight.'

"Could it be that there are not enough warriors?" she questioned.

"I don't think so." B.T. immediately replied.

'True.' thought BlackRose. 'Otherwise they could've sent…wait, no, it's possible. Nova is a very strong Warrior and from what I've learned this morning Chimney is a talented one too.'

"Let's just find the witch and do whatever we can." Bear said with his trademark smile.

BlackRose nodded. She knew that somehow she would make it through, she had to, for Fumikazu.

"There she is!" B.T. yelled as she readied herself for a fight.

"BlackRose, Operation Follow Me!" Bear yelled.

B.T. shook her head and followed. She had to.

"B.T. First Aid!" Bear yelled. B.T. nodded.

BlackRose felt herself be stopped by something.

'What's going on?!' she thought in a slight panic as she found herself unable to move.

Suddenly fire came crashing on her and she felt her skin burn.

"Aaaaaah!" she yelled as the pain came crashing down on her.

"Repth!"

The pain disappeared and so did the wounds. BlackRose mouthed a 'Thank you' to B.T. and ran up to the witch.

Apparently Bear too had gotten one of her attacks and was now running towards her as well.

Even though BlackRose knew they had to kill the witch, she still found her very pretty.

'I'm sorry.' she thought as she started dropping her sword. Realising she had to slice a few more times BlackRose started heaving her sword up again.

Bear arrived and pushed his sword through the Witch. She screamed and fell down, only to disappear.

"What just happened?" BlackRose asked, seeing this for the first time.

"Haven't you noticed?" Bear asked. "Witches, goblins, mad grass, everything we have to fight disappears after we defeated it."

"Why?" BlackRose stammered.

"Would you feel better if they remained visible, or if they laid in a pool of blood?" B.T. asked.

BlackRose's eyes widened. "No." she whispered.

"They're dark creatures, that's why they disappear." Bear said while putting a hand on her shoulder.

"If they stay on the loose, innocent people are in danger. That's what we fight for. To keep them safe."

BlackRose nodded, suddenly being grateful to all those warriors who had kept her safe inside the village. How small her world had been! And yet here she was, just becoming a warrior for her own, egocentric reasons. Could she look at the people around her through the same eyes?

Nova, Chimney, Albireo, Hokuto, B.T., Bear, could she ever look them in the eyes?

_There were a lot of introductions in this chapter. ^^ Now I think that I should probably have made it Crim who helped her, but, somehow in my imagination, it was Albireo. ^^"_

'_Til the next chap!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Here I am once more! ^^ Thanks for the reviews I really appreciate them! ^^_

_About the fact that the story isn__'__t going really forward, well, I__'__m trying to imitate the style of the books, but I think I can make it a bit more__…__well__…__exciting. I always work like this, the moment I have two more chapters, one gets on the net, so, you__'__ll probably start seeing differences within two chapters. ^^__"__ Well then here we go!_

_Disclaimer: I don__'__t own .Hack/_

Grumpily BlackRose stood up from her bed. Her arms ached terribly, especially her right arm. The weight of her sword was taking its toll on her. She massaged her arm while thinking of her brother, Fumikazu. It had been a week since he had disappeared and she still hadn't made any progress on finding him. She stopped massaging her arms and leaned with her head on her hands. 'How can I come closer to those fazes?' she thought. After a few minutes she sighed deeply. Her head ached from all the stupid things she had come up with and the only reasonable plan was getting stronger fast. She stood up, now ignoring the pain in her arms and quietly put on her armour. 'Strange how fast one get's used to this.' she thought as she saw herself skilfully put her armour on in the mirror. She looked at herself for a moment. Her eyes laid on the drawings on her body. She had never thought of it before since she had always had them in the past, but now that she heard Bear and B.T. talk about it… She sighed once more and shook her head violently to get her out of her musings.

She had received a letter saying that she had a mission this afternoon. At 14:00 she would meet her team mates in the Mission Register. 'As to be expected.' BlackRose thought when she found a note from her parents, telling her they were at their work. 'As if I don't know that.' she thought annoyed. Quietly she walked out of the door. At the bridge she stopped and looked at the water. Then she looked up as a known boat passed by with a blue haired Heavy Axe in the front. "Her name's Subaru." someone got her out of her musings. She jumped up.

"Oh hello Hokuto." BlackRose mumbled as she recognised the Wavemaster.

"What are you all in thought about?" she asked.

"Nothing in particular." BlackRose replied.

"I see." Hokuto replied with an all knowing smile on her face.

They stood there in silence.

"So, how're you doing?" BlackRose asked, not wanting to just stand there in silence.

"I'm fine! I've got a mission in half an hour!" she replied with a huge smile.

"Then shouldn't you be going?" BlackRose asked.

"Helloooo? It's in half an hour!" Hokuto retorted.

"You really are someone that doesn't care about coming late huh?" BlackRose said with as smile.

"Why would I? Life is already as rushed as it is." she replied with a smile, but BlackRose could hear her true feelings behind it.

'I guess even Hokuto's got her own problems.' she thought, dropping the subject.

"Neh, BlackRose."

"Huh?"

"Why did you sign up?"

BlackRose's eyes saddened. 'Should I tell her?'

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me." Hokuto said with a smile.

"I signed up because I wanted to. I wanted adventure in my life, something to tell my siblings, nieces and nephews."

BlackRose turned to her.

"You want them to be proud of you?"

"Of course!" she grew silent. "Egoistic isn't it?"

BlackRose thought about it for a moment. "I don't think so."

Hokuto turned to her.

"I think that underneath that what may look egoistic, there's something deeper." BlackRose said.

"Like what?" Hokuto asked, turning her gaze to the shining of the water.

"Like just 'being here'."

Hokuto continued to stare at the water.

"So you mean that by becoming a Wavemaster, I gave myself a place and a reason to be?"

"I think so. You're not the kind of person that's egoistic." BlackRose said.

"Nor are you. BlackRose."

'Strange how killing creatures of the dark gets you like this.' BlackRose thought as she sauntered towards the Mission Register. Quietly she walked up the stairs and made her way to the far right Wavemaster who greeted her with a genuine smile. "It seems that this mission is going to be a bit harder for you." he said.

"How come?" BlackRose asked.

"The Wavemaster that was supposed to come with you is ill and we couldn't find someone who could fill in."

"I see." BlackRose replied.

A Twin Blade closed in on them while talking.

"Oh, here's your team mate." the Wavemaster said with a smile.

BlackRose turned around and felt weird.

"Hi, I'm Kite." he said polite.

"BlackRose." she replied.

"So, you can leave immediately." the Wavemaster said. "Oh, but don't forget to check your equipment."

Kite and BlackRose nodded and left.

"So…shall we leave immediately?" BlackRose asked, strangely bad at ease.

"Wait a second. Let me buy some more Health Drinks." he said and left.

BlackRose sighed. She hated waiting more than anything.

Kite returned. "Okay, now we're ready to go."

"You can't just let a girl wait!" BlackRose said.

Kite blinked a few times and then smiled. "Sorry."

BlackRose immediately felt bad for her outburst. "I'm sorry. Just nervous I guess."

"Don't worry, we'll be okay it are just a pair of Swordmanoids."

"Yeah I guess." BlackRose replied, suddenly feeling grateful Kite was there.

"Okay, let's go."

Their travel was awkward. Neither one of them knew what to say since they were both newbie's. "So, why did you become a warrior?" BlackRose asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Kite's eyes saddened and BlackRose realised she had said something stupid.

"You don't have to reply if you don't want to." she immediately said waving her hands frantically.

"No it's okay." he said. "Orca, one of my best friends talked me into it. The adventure's great! he always said." BlackRose listened intently. "But the first time he took me out, totally against the rules, everything went wrong."

BlackRose looked down.

"He got taken away by one of those fazes."

BlackRose's eyes shot open. "What?"

Kite looked up, taken aback. Then he turned around and stared at the ground.

"I'm so sorry." she said, feeling terrible. He had gone through the same as she with her brother, except that he'd actually been there when his friend was taken away. 'Must be terrible.'

"What about yourself?" he asked.

She was about to reply when they were attacked by the Swordmanoids.

Immediately grabbing their weapons the battle started.

"See? We did need those extra potions." Kite said with a smile. BlackRose sat on the ground clamping her arm. "Okay, you were right." she replied with an equally wide smile.

"Here."

"Thanks!"

They stood up and started walking away when an enormous creature stood up behind them.

BlackRose feeling something weird stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.

"Watch out!" she yelled as she saw the huge, spider like creature shoot webs at them. Kite duck aside just like her and they readied their swords.

"What the hell is this?" BlackRose yelled.

"I have no idea, but I doubt it's going to let us go." Kite replied calmly.

BlackRose felt afraid. She wanted to return home. An image of Fumikazu appeared. 'No! He was afraid as well!' she thought as she ordered herself to stand up and prepare an attack, Kite a few metres behind her. 'He doesn't have a choice right now!' she urged herself.

"FUMIKAZU!" she yelled as she charged.

She was able to cut five times in a combo before she was thrown back. She could see Kite attack the monster with a few skills. 'Shit, I can't perform skills yet.' she thought, feeling herself fly backwards with high speed. Knowing she'd hit a tree or the ground anytime she closed her eyes. 'Fumikazu.' she thought.

She felt someone catch her. 'Kite?' she thought as she opened her eyes.

Silver glimming armour, white hair and blue eyes along with beautiful white wings. 'No, this is not Kite. Is it an ally or an enemy?' she thought.

Whoever it was put her down on her feet and told her something. She wasn't clear in the head though, so nothing he had just said had gotten to her. She saw him rushing over to the monster.

Kite too flew backwards by a strike. BlackRose took her decision and ran up to the monster once again, this time with another tactic.

She grabbed a scroll and swirled it around. "Raining Rocks!"

Rocks appeared from nowhere and fell on top of the creature, giving the new arrived warrior time to fall back and take a sip of a Health Drink.

"I think it's better if you get out of here!" he yelled.

"No way!" BlackRose yelled. "I became a warrior for something! Not to run away once it gets a bit warm under my feet!"

The warrior just turned back to the enemy, dodged its attacks and used amazing skills. BlackRose took out a small piece of paper Hokuto had given her. "It's extremely useful!" she had said.

"Tarot of the Hanged Man!" BlackRose yelled.

Just as it was about to strike the winged warrior hard its movements stopped.

"Good!" he yelled back at her and started a few hard looking combos.

'I'm not going to sit here at the sideline!' BlackRose thought as she too started to slash at the enemy. Nothing worked. After the tarot was done he just stood up again.

'Where's Kite anyway?' BlackRose thought as she looked around. She immediately closed her eyes as she saw a bright light coming from where Kite was.

"Data Drain!" he yelled and a flashing light came from him stabbing the creature right through the core.

Clearly weakened by the attack BlackRose and the winged warrior together with Kite started attacking non-stop until he finally fell down and disappeared.

BlackRose dropped herself sighing loud. "That was close." she mumbled.

"What was that anyway?"

"Are the two of you okay?" the winged warrior suddenly said.

"Yeah, thank you for your help." Kite said.

"Who are you anyway?" BlackRose asked.

"You don't know?" Kite asked.

"I'm Balmung of the Azure Sky." he said.

'I heard that name before.' BlackRose thought.

"Anyway, we should return to the village to get you helped." he said turning around ready to leave.

Walking in silence BlackRose turned to Kite.

"So, what are you going to do for your friend?"

Kite looked up. "I'll become stronger and save him."

BlackRose nodded. "I'll help you."

His eyes widened. "It's dangerous."

"I know, but I really want to help you."

"Why?"

BlackRose looked down and Kite recognised the same sadness that he felt in her eyes.

"I'm glad you want to help." he said. BlackRose nodded.

"I promise I'll do whatever I can."

"So do I."

They smiled at each other and they both knew they were now going to get closer to the fazes.

_Well that was it for chapter Four. I hope you liked it and please Review! ^^_

_Hey everyone! I now realise how huge this story can become. The tiniest mistake I make can mean I have to re-write the whole part! Help.\(.)/ Well anyway, I__'__m going to try my best. Please enjoy the next chapter._

Her heart full of resolve, BlackRose reached for her blade that leant against a small table in the corner of the hall. She clicked it onto her back and walked over to the door. She took a deep breath and opened it. It had been two weeks full of missions ago that she had last seen Kite. She felt nervous and happy at the same time. After taking the decision to work together the real work had started. Apparently it wasn't all that easy to get out of the town by yourself without a mission. Kite had done some research on it, and apparently you had to send in a form to ask for permission or you'd have to get the approval of the leader of the Crimson Knights aka Albireo. 'Strange.' BlackRose thought 'Who rules the system anyway? Do we have a king?' This question haunted her mind when she finally arrived at the bridge where she'd agreed on meeting Kite.

She leant with her elbows on the rail and stared at the water. Saving Fumikazu and Orca could take longer than she had expected. Silently she wished she could just leave and go there by herself. Like that she would be able to save him in a month. She roughly shook her head. 'No, it wouldn't be possible. It's impossible to defeat those fazes…' She blinked a few times. 'Wait…how many fazes are there?' she thought. She straightened her back, lost in thought.

_I have a very good reason for the tardiness of this! . I lost this document! I just lost it! And now, I finally found it! Me soooo happy but soooo behind on schedule! Soooo sorry!_


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